Lifting strakes.

[ronb]

Good Gracious Burgundy! You got a dirty mouth!

[Ron Burgundy]

[The_Hellbilly]

Do you guys with strakes ever have issues with them banging up against the dock or pylons? I picture them sticking out further than some bumpers, but not having them I'm not certain if it's an issue.

Never had a problem banging into anything, but I don't have any on the out side of each exterior log. Here's a pic of mine

Strake set up.jpg (73.83 KiB) Viewed 1633 times

[JohnO]

New to boating ..what are strakes

(fixed your typo)

Good question clownin!

Strakes are additional structures added to the tube to provide lift and maneuverabiliy. For simplicity sake figure they are long pieces of angle aluminum welded to the sides of the tubes. Normally they run almost the full length of the tube. There are basically two kinds, positive angle and negative angle. Positive angle start from the tube and slope upwards away from the tube. Negative angle start from the tube and slope downwards

The real question is whether you need strakes on all sides of all tubes or if the outside of the outer tubes should be without strakes (I'll call these outer strakes). This depends greatly on the hull design and the strake design. On some boats outer strakes dig into the water and casue difficulty in turning. On other boats they remain on plane and aid turning.

The best way to know what strakes your boat should have is to talk to the manufacturer of it. They've spent countless hours analyzing exactly what works best on their hulls

The Manitous (with SHP) have positive angle strakes on all tubes inner and outer. This helps them to be the most maneuverable pontoon on the water. I would not have a pontoon with out strakes.

I'll leave it for the guys who own other brands to describe strakes performance on their boats.

[rbiederwolf]

Definitely get strakes. The idea is to get the boat up on plane faster and keep it on plane with as little energy as possible. Strakes accomplish both. Thus you have less friction/drag, boat runs faster and it is easier on the engine (better mpg). Should not be a terribly expensive upgrade from the factory - $1000-1500 tops.

22 ft Tritoon with strakes with a 150hp will do 38 to 42 mph.

[Bamaman]

I also like strakes installed by the factory. Some strakes are full length, and some are run 3/4 the length of the boat. It's best not to have your local welding shop attempt to "engineer" strakes aftermarket. as he doesn't have the expertise or resources to test what works.

Many manufacturers are now putting strakes on both sides of the center toon and the insides of the outer toons. They seem to handle better than if the strakes were on the outside. As has been said, getting the nose out of the water is good for 4-5 mph, and fuel mileage is also improved.

The "performance" hulls come with a much larger center toon, like used by Manitou and Premier. They will allow the boat to lean into a tight turn like a v-hull boat, and they just handle better.
But, the price differential can be $8K, which might include power steering ($2K). Also, much larger engines are required which is another $5K or so--bringing them up to the high $50's or low $60's.

Almost every major manufacturer seems to have a package engineered for 150 hp, often using 3 equal size toons and strakes. This seems to be what's in short supply this time of the year on the dealers' lots. (I'm just seeing 20' & 60 hp boats and 25' and 250 hp motors in stock.) The dealers are getting ready to place 2013 orders right now, with dealer meetings in the next few weeks.

[clownin]

Thanks johno ...I have a northwood ,,,my first boat I can't even find who makes it keep getting 2 different answers ....anyway thanks for explaining...

[BigDaddy]

Wouldn't it be easier to install Tap Fins? Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[ronb]

I hear that they lift AND separate!

[dockholiday]

Definitely get strakes. The idea is to get the boat up on plane faster and keep it on plane with as little energy as possible. Strakes accomplish both. Thus you have less friction/drag, boat runs faster and it is easier on the engine (better mpg). Should not be a terribly expensive upgrade from the factory - $1000-1500 tops.

22 ft Tritoon with strakes with a 150hp will do 38 to 42 mph.

ditto..............I only paid 500 bucks extra for mine. That was in 08, so not sure what they are charging now. Sure glad the dealer recommended them
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